Some progress ~

Digging deep into the bowels of this old boat has been an unbelievably interesting experience. Since I was working on the motor and planning on re-installing it after some cleaning/painting work, I figured it was a good idea to get that area of the bilge as clean as possible. The access to this area is greatly reduced when the engine is in place, so it was crucial to expose and remove anything unwanted at this point.

A view from the companionway looking down, way down into the bilge.

A bucket of material removed from the lowest depths of the bilge. Yes, that is a 12" pipe wrench!

More and more things kept being dug up from the bilge depths,  it was scary!

There were many, many pounds of debris removed from the bilge area below the engine. I believe this was due to an area aft the engine room, under the cockpit lazarette, where a hole let things fall into the bilge.  Among these things were nearly a dozen screwdriver handles, two pipe wrenches, a pair of glasses that appear to be sunglasses but their just covered in bilge gunk. Also an absorbent bilge sponge that felt more like lead.  The most bizarre items were things that I couldn't figure out how they got down there... a 3' piece of metal rod, corroded beyond belief.   I've seen some pretty gross things that are easily labeled boat nasty... however this bilge took the cake!!



Luckily, I endured through this stage of the cleaning process and was able to get the engine room pretty clean and organized. The engine was de-greased  and cleaned with wire brushes, then primed and painted. Followed by a rebuilt starter and alternator, the ol Universal was ready to sit on her new motor mounts in a ready space.

De-greased

Primed

Painted!

As it turns out Gold is a universal color, meaning the universe over.... gold is gold.   When I found the spray can of Universal Gold at North Bay Auto Parts I figured it was just luck, they just happened to have my engine paint color in stock!!!  Its doesn't look bad, ey?  We've renamed her Goldie.

Blake Hinely runnin the Wiggins Marina Bull

So, simply getting Goldie back in place was no small feat. I had help from Dennis Mayhew and the crew from Bluewater High & Dry  and their forklift. Thanks Blake!

Goldie finally back in her hole!

With Goldie back in her cozy little space, next comes the task of aligning and bolting her down, then bolting together the coupling and prop shaft to the transmission.  After a little modification here and then, she is all hooked up and ready to go! 

This is where I sit when I'm in the engine room.

  Next steps were the new exhaust system including new/used Vetus water lock muffler and new exhaust hoses, a new stainless steel custom built exhaust riser pipe, new fresh water cooling water lines and rebuilt heat exchanger, new Groco raw water strainer, fuel pump, new fuel lines and filters and a temporary fuel tank, I also made a new bracket for the transmission cable and mounted it on the motor.  

Almost all hooked up!

 With all this done, the only thing left to do is wire it up! 

Should be simple, right....?